As Gaza peace talks resume, Israel proposes 30-day ceasefire: Report

In renewed talks for the end of the war in the Gaza Strip, Israel has proposed a limited ceasefire and a hostage deal, according to a report.

After being deadlocked for months over rigid Israeli demands and hardening position of Hamas, indirect talks between Israel and Hamas mediated by Egypt and Qatar and facilitated by the United States have resumed in recent days. On Sunday, Israeli, US, and Qatari negotiators held talks in Doha.

Hebrew-language Israeli outlet Ynet has reported that principal Israeli negotiator, Mossad chief David Barnea, floated a 30-day ceasefire proposal in the latest round of talks at Doha.

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In the coming days, Qatari mediators are expected to hold talks with Hamas negotiators and share with them the detailed proposals, according of the English translation of the Ynet report.

Initially, talks were taking place under a framework floated by US President Joe Biden and backed by Israel under which the war would end in Gaza and hostages would be swapped with Palestinian prisoners in three stages. Later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu inserted new demands into the proposal and these demands along with former Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar’s hardening position talked the talks.

Now, the negotiators are trying to kickstart the efforts to end the war with a temporary deal that would lay the foundation for a comprehensive peace deal. There are currently four such proposals on the table, one each by Israel, Egypt, the United States, and Russia.

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Israel proposes 30-day limited ceasefire

Under the proposal floated by Israel, there would be a 30-day ceasefire in Gaza and 11-14 hostages would be released by Hamas in lieu of an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel, according to Ynet.

The outlet reported that the proposal would likely include the release of women hostages.

Notably, the proposal does not include anything about Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, according to the report.

While the proposal does not say anything about Israeli withdrawal within these 30 days, Hamas would receive guarantees for a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in the future, as per the report.

To accommodate the desire to continue controlling Gaza, Israel may need to agree to release a higher-than-anticipated number of Palestinian prisoners, according to the report.

Egypt’s 2-day ceasefire plan

Previously, Egypt had floated a plan for a two-days ceasefire in lieu of the swap of four hostages with unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners.

The latest US proposal

During the latest round of peace talks, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director William Burns had floated a proposal for a 28-day ceasefire in exchange of the release of eight hostages, according to Axios.

Burns had proposed the release of eight women hostages of any age or men over the age of 50 in lieu of the release of several dozen Palestinian prisoners held in Israel, as per the report.

Russia seeking own citizens’ release

Russia, which is an ally of Hamas-backer Iran, has floated proposal under which the release of two hostages with Russian citizenship would be prioritised.

Instead of a proposal, this is more of a deal as senior Hamas leader Moussa Abu Marzouk previously told Russian state-run news agency RIA that the two Russian hostages’ release would be a “priority” but only as part of a ceasefire deal and in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.